Voices in my head

One of the things that has always fascinated me is the fact that if you give a class full of kids the same writing assignment, none of the assignments will be the same. Everyone has a distinct voice that comes through in the way they speak and write.

However, something I find fascinating in writing that there is a difference between voices in writing between characters and authors. There is, of course, authorial voice that leaks through and the author’s style, but the narrator can have a distinct voice that is different from the author, and I think that’s incredible. An author is able to create voices of many other people, which is an incredible talent that kind of goes overlooked. Then there’s the diction and syntax that further develop a voice.

Our inner voice differs from our parents’ or our friends’ and we are able to take it and translate it into words. The way we see the world and react to it varies, which is something that I find absolutely incredible. Then to be able to look at how someone else might feel and react? And being able to add different meanings to what is said to change the meaning? That’s so freaking cool.